New members inducted into Phi Theta Kappa

On June 1, Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) inducted new members into the organization. PTK is the honors society for 2-year colleges and requires a 3.7 to 4.0 grade point average to be accepted. There are two chapters for Pierce College. Alpha Psi Delta is on the Puyallup campus and Omega Theta is on the Fort Steilacoom campus.

Guest speakers, Chancellor Johnson of Pierce College and Doctor Paul Gerhardt, a previous advisor and member of PTK, discussed Pierce College’s values and the importance of being allowed into PTK.

Johnson spoke of the sense of privilege when one is involved in the honors society. “You now have a sense of privilege because you are privileged to be part of an honors society. Those of you with privilege have great responsibility,” she said.

Opening his speech, Gerhardt said, “It’s a sincere honor to be able to welcome each of you to the Phi Theta Kappa international honors society. You truly are the best of the best.”

37 students at the Fort Steilacoom campus were inducted into the honors program. Each student admitted into the society received a rose as their names were called by the event’s presenters.

At the end of the induction ceremony, presenters explained to students that they were now awarded with access to multiple scholarships. They congratulated the students and ended the event with food and mingling.

Some Running Start students were included in the induction ceremony. Genavive Anderson was involved in the National Honors Society in her high school. “It’s very different from high school – better than high school. In college, you have to dedicate fully. Having that pressure is nice without adults handling it for you. I encourage people to join the Running Start program.”

She is also looking forward to access to support services for various degrees. “It sounds like I’ll have access to many things to help me, like scholarship opportunities,” Anderson said.

PTK also has an emphasis on community service. “We did things like fundraisers for water in Africa. I’m hoping PTK is the same thing but bigger,” Anderson said.

Jessica Crowe, an inductee and kinesiology student at Pierce College for almost a year, said, “It’s a mention to the hard work. It’s good in college to see someone acknowledge your hard work.”

PTK’s class load is a little but more challenging than the regular schedule, but the work pays off. “I’ve been growing up with high grades as a normal thing. I’m half happy and half so-so normal. Some of the classes are hard. I feel like people can do it, so I feel like I can do it, too,” Pham said.

Interested in becoming an Officer? Submit a biography to [email protected] to become an Officer or talk to an advisor.

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